Wednesday, May 19, 2010

(Not Really) Wordless Wednesday - Edward Curtis Jones

Curtis, as he was known to his family, was the oldest son of Arthur Clifton Jones and Georgia A. Jackson; and later brother to Dudley Emerson and Arthur Jackson Jones. He was born 25 August 1889 in Sedalia, Missouri, moved with his family to Little Rock, and graduated from the Little Rock High School in 1908. Though we don't have his college records, we know he went to some institute of higher education; in every census after 1910 his occupation is listed as Engineer.

He registered for the World War I draft, and fought in Europe, along with both of his brothers. Family members recall seeing a picture of all three brothers together on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, but it has been lost.

He returned to Little Rock, and to his wife, Jessie M. Colclasure in 1917. The couple lived with his parents until after 1920, and their only child, Edward Curtis Jones, Jr., was born in 1921 in Arkansas, probably in the family home. By 1930 the little family had moved to Memphis, Tennessee. The next public record we hold is a newspaper clipping from 11 March 1945 that pictures a line of grieved parents, including Curtis and Jessie, as the "Army Recognized Their Sons' Valor in Europe's Sky," E. Curtis Jones Jr. had been killed in action over Hungary in World War II.

His wife, Jessie, died in January 1957 of pneumonia and stomach cancer, after a fierce battle, and is buried at Memorial Park in Memphis. We believe Curtis died on 7 March 1960 in Memphis Tennessee. He was survived by his brothers and their spouses, and one niece and her family.